Profile: Just Like Heaven
Washington, D.C., and its Virginia/Maryland metropolis encompass people from more than 140 nations. Approximately 103 of those countries are represented at Word of Life Assembly of God in Springfield, Virginia.
Pastor Wendel Cover has his sights on the others. “We probably have about 30 to 40 more nations to reach,” he says.
The church of 1,600 lives and breathes a multicultural gospel. Communion services are just one avenue of worship used to drive home the reality of the worldwide body of Christ. The congregants, many wearing traditional clothing, walk to the front of the church to receive the emblems. As each emblem is taken, two people pray in different languages. Their prayers are interpreted.
Interpretation is also vital to the regular flow of the service. Interpreters translate Cover’s sermons into Spanish, Farsi, French, and Korean. Headphones are available for parishioners’ use.
“We eventually had to create a booth for the interpreters,” Cover says, “because the interpreters would get fired up with me and everyone could hear them.”
When he came to the church 29 years ago, the congregation was predominantly white. But the world has come within the Capitol’s shadow, and Word of Life has consistently reached out to new neighbors.
As a result, the church has expanded its facilities (the latest addition will be a state-of-the-art children’s ministry center) as well as its international ministries. When accelerated payments eliminated all remaining debt on their buildings 5 years ago, Cover asked his board to redirect their monthly $25,000 mortgage payment to missions.
“We use that to build a Bible school or a church somewhere in the world each month,” he says.
Another $5,000 a month goes to train church leaders in Africa. Word of Life hosted the first Africa’s Hope leadership conference this year.
Word of Life’s annual missions giving is third in the nation, with special offerings targeting disaster-related needs around the world. Whether the money goes toward an earthquake in Pakistan or a tsunami in Asia, there are families in the church representing those regions and the congregation takes the need to heart.
“We recently received an offering for flooding in Suriname,” Cover says. “Usually we give through Convoy of Hope and send at least one shipping container of relief supplies.”
Often, tragedy is on a more personal level. Church members may lose a loved one in their homeland and cannot return for the funeral. In that event, Word of Life invites family members and friends to receive congregational prayer. After the service the church prepares a meal for them.
When Cover organizes missions offerings on the first and third Sunday each month, he invites a national choir to sing.
“We have choirs from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, the Philippines, India, and our Spanish-speaking countries,” he says.
With each choir, each song, the joy is multiplied.
Cover takes that joy to heart. “I’m the most privileged pastor in the world,” he says. “My guest speakers tell me, ‘This is just like heaven.’ ”
Scott Harrup is senior associate editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel.
